By Rob PotterENDICOTT  June 10, 2003  Heather Iatauro of Tri-Valley and Katy Schlichtman of Monticello certainly made the most of their trips to the state track and field championships.
Schlichtman, a senior, won the Division I (large schools) girls 400 hurdles Friday in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHAA) championship meet at Union-Endicott High School in Endicott. Then on Saturday, Schlichtman won the girls 400 hurdles in the state Federation meet, which was also held at U-E. (The Federation meet includes athletes from NYSPHAA schools as well as the Catholic High School Athletic Association, New York Citys Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) and the Alliance of Independent schools.)
She won Fridays event in a time of 1:01.57 and took Saturdays race in 1:01.85.
It was awesome, Schlichtman said of winning the pair of titles. I was hoping to run faster, but I gave it my all.
Schlichtman credited fellow Monticello track team member Sara Colacurccio with helping her win the events. Colacurccio, a junior, trained with Schlichtman over the past few weeks.
She was a big help, otherwise I would have had to train by myself, Schlichtman said. She helped me with my flexibility and made me work harder and run faster.
Schlichtman is now focusing her training efforts on a national high school meet that will take place this weekend in North Carolina.
I would like to have my best performance there before I go to college next year, said Schlichtman, who will continue her track career at Columbia University.
Iatauro, a junior, won the girls 2,000 steeplechase at the state Federation meet. She completed the course in 6:57.31 to capture her first Federation title by about three seconds.
On the final lap, however, Iatauros foot slipped on a barrier and she fell into a pit of water. But she quickly got back to her feet and beat the other runners to the finish line.
Her time of 6:57.31 was also the best among Division II runners, giving Iatauro her third consecutive class state championship.
Other county athletes who competed at the state and/or federation meets included Sullivan Wests April Ackermann, Libertys Renauld Buck, Libertys Matt Manzi and Jeremy Morgan of Sullivan West.
Ackermann finished 11th in the Division II girls 3,000-meter run at the state meet. She ran the course in 11:30.85.
Buck placed 11th in the Division II boys shot put. He put the shot a distance of 45 ft., 4 3/4 inches.
Manzi was fourth in the Division II boys 800 with a time of 1:58.37.
Morgan finished ninth in the Division II boys 400 hurdles with a time of 58.24.
The T-V relay team of Jen Gorman, Colleen Carey, Megan Drown and Candice Carroll finished 10th in the Division II girls 1,600 relay. They posted a time of 4:11.9.
The T-V relay team of Erin Beach, Iatauro, Melinda ONeill and Courtney Roosa placed eighth in the Division II girls 3,200 relay. They finished in a season-best time of 10:00.24.